New Delhi: The Nagaland police has informed a lower court that the Union government has denied sanction to prosecute the 30 Army officers who were involved in a botched anti-insurgency operation that resulted in the killing of 13 civilians in the state’s Oting area in 2021.
The state inspector general of police (CID) Roopa M. on Wednesday, April 12, said the state crime cell police station and the special investigation team (SIT) have informed the Mon district and sessions judge that the Union government’s Department of Military Affairs and the Ministry of Defence have conveyed to the state its denial to permit prosecution against all the accused in the Oting incident of December 5, 2021.
The lower court has been hearing the matter based on a case filed in Mon on May 30, 2022 by the state police.
The denial of sanction was reconfirmed by the office of the state director general of police in another press release on April 13.
The SIT was formed by the state government’s home department following a huge public outrage across the Northeastern state at the unprovoked killings of 13 civilians, who were returning from work at a coal mine by the Army. The Army said it was a case of “mistaken identity”.
One army man was also killed in a subsequent attack by locals, who rushed to the spot after hearing the gunshots. In total, 15 civilians were killed.
The draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act grants immunity to the security forces in such instances. Once AFSPA is enforced in a “disturbed area”, the law says that “no prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the central government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act”.
Just a few weeks ago, the Narendra Modi government once again extended the term of the law in the state by six months – which began on April 1. The “disturbed area” status will be applicable in eight districts and 21 police stations falling under five other districts of the state.
In March 2022, the SIT completed its investigation and sought sanction from the Modi government to prosecute all 30 army officers involved in the killings. The Union government’s sanction is required before the trial can begin. The SIT had concluded that the victims were shot “with a clear intention to kill”. The SIT report published exclusively by The Wire in July 2022, had stated that for about 50 minutes the team commander of the anti-insurgency operation knew that they were on the wrong route. More details on the SIT findings can be read here.
Two months after the SIT submitted its report, in July 2022, the wives of the accused succeeded in getting an interim stay on further proceedings on the matter from the Supreme Court. One commando of the Para 21 wing of the Army had also lost his life, and the Army also filed a case in Mon district. The army had also concurrently started a court of inquiry on the matter.
Hours after the killings, Union home minister Amit Shah, in a statement in Parliament, had claimed that the Army opened fire after the civilians tried to flee. Shah’s statement spurred a huge protest in Nagaland, leading to the burning of his effigy and also the demand to withdraw the statement.
Shah’s full statement in parliament can be read here.